Oil Trades Near 5-Year Low as OPEC Seen Resisting Cuts

Crude oil rose from its lowest level in five-years in London after Libya said it was unable to load cargoes at two ports.

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Brent futures advanced 1.8 percent, heading for their biggest gain since Dec. 1, after Libya’s National Oil Corp. declared force majeure at the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. Brent earlier slumped 2.5 percent to $60.28, the lowest since July 2009, as the United Arab Emirates said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will refrain from cutting output even if prices slumped to $40 a barrel.

“Libya may have helped the market stay above $60,” Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Jefferies International Ltd. in London, said by e-mail. “A small recovery from time to time is inevitable. Maybe some optimists think that $60 marks the bottom of the market, but I can see nothing to support that theory.”

Brent for January settlement gained as much as $1.40 to $63.25 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange and was at $63.08 at 8:58 a.m. London time. The contract, which expires tomorrow, slid $1.83 to $61.85 on Dec. 12, the lowest close since July 2009. The more active February future was $1.17 higher at $63.32. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.44 to WTI.